3 eBooks - Off The Grid
Learn How To Live Off The Grid
Break free from the ‘wage slave’ cycle now!
Debt Free Living is possible in less than 3 years.
Build your own Wind Generator in 2 weekends
Design and Build your own Off Grid Home
Solar Panels easy installation guide
Off Grid Living photos and videos
A Great Place to start is our Off Grid Living Article Directory
Off Grid Living for 15 years…
In 1993 if you would have asked Jane and I what Off Grid Living meant we would not have been able to tell you. Our off grid life has evolved in many simple steps into the better life that we lead today.
Many people ask us about Off Grid Living in Canada. There are many reasons that we live off the grid in Canada, but right now there are only two that seem to really matter: there is of course simple home economics and maybe not so obviously global warming. We feel that by producing your own power at home with Renewable Energy we can achieve both of these objectives. We are sure that you can too.
Is your electric bill approaching $300 per month or more?
Are you getting tired of the city?
Do you like to build
Are you even just a little bit handy with tools?
Are you interested in renewable energy and off grid living
Way back in 1993 our family answered yes to all of the above questions and decided to give off grid living in Canada a try. We bought 20 acres in Eastern Ontario and proceeded to build our own home with lumber and material from the property.
Solar Panels and Off Grid Living-
It was our decision to install solar panels first because of the ease of installation and the modular nature of solar panels that allowed us to add onto the system later when money and time permitted. The very first thing we discovered was that solar panels are easy to install, but you have to do it right. The panels are a major investment and you need to get a good guide to follow.
When we started we just didn’t know enough about solar panels to do the installation job properly ourselves. We knew that was the best option for us to start out with but we just needed more information. It took some time to find it and at the end of this article we will show you where you can find it too.
Wind Generators and Off Grid Living-
We had our solar panel array for many years before we decided to add on to our renewable energy system. Our family decided we wanted a wind generator to help out the battery charging at times of the year when the sun was not shining. For the most part if the sun isn’t shining then the wind is blowing.
We liked the fact that the new wind generators were quieter and more efficient than, even 10 years ago. But the price was something outrageous!
It quickly became apparent that to buy the 1000 watt wind generator we would need for off grid living in Canada it would cost over $2000. That was a lot of money, so we decided to try and come up with a better answer. Finally, we decided we would build our own wind generator.
That decision proved to be a good one, as it ended up only costing us about $100 to build a wind generator including the plans we eventually found. We could not have built our own without those plans and it sure took a while to find the right ones.
Global Warming and Off Grid Living?
Some people can’t see how global warming and renewable energy fit together, but that perception is gradually changing. In Canada the effects of global warming are being felt in many severe ways. Smog, severe weather patterns affecting farming and the increasingly unhealthy environment in which we find ourselves are all contributing to depleting the health of all Canadians.
We want to reduce the effects of global warming by showing you ways to reduce your emissions of greenhouse gases and ways to lead a healthier life.One of the best ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is by off grid living. How?
Off Grid Living is about producing your own power with Renewable Energy. You will be using less fossil fuel resources to run your home- heating your water, heating your home and running your appliances with renewable energy sources. This greatly reduces toxic emissions into the atmosphere and thereby reduces global warming and climate change. . We can do this, one household at a time!
What about Nuclear power instead of off grid living?
Most renewable energy experts shy away from the discussion of nuclear power, but in our household we will make our stand. We dismiss Nuclear as a viable long-term energy source and here is why. One question usually suffices. Here it is. If you could choose where you would live and you only had these two choices, where would you live?
Choice A- Next door to a nuclear power plant
Choice B- Next door to a wind farm
It really is that simple. Long term we all have to make choices. I know which one we have chosen.
The simple truth is that nuclear power scares our family to death. Oh sure, government can sell it quietly with television commercials showing birds singing and pretty music, but the problem is—where are those people when something goes wrong? All it takes is one malfunction, only one human error and we have Three Mile Island or Chernobyl again.
Ask yourself this, “What is the worst possible scenario if your next door wind generator malfunctions? Look Fred, one of the blades fell off at the wind farm. Hope everything’s OK.”
What is the worst possible scenario if your next door nuclear power plant malfunctions? “Look Fred, there’s smoke coming out of Reactor #6. Hope everything’s ………….”
And then silence, for a very, very long time. Were you looking for a quiet neighborhood?
How we got started
First off we dreamed of owning our own home. Being do it yourself kind of people we really wanted to build our own house off the grid. But the area where we lived in Southern Ontario was seeing land prices soar through the roof and we just couldn’t afford to build there. We just didn’t know what to do.
We also wanted desperately to live debt free, so just going to the bank and signing on the dotted line for a mortgage just wasn’t what we wanted. Living debt free in a house we built with our own hands was what we wanted - and what we chose to pursue. The Off Grid Living website is dedicated to showing you how we did just that.
Back then what we planned to do was known as homesteading - clearing some land, building a house, planting a garden - but some time in the 1980’s things changed with the growth of renewable energy. This was mainly due to rising gas and oil prices as well as rising electric bills people were starting to look favorably on the use of solar panels and wind generators to power their homes.
Homesteading with renewable energy, solar panel and a wind generator has come to be known as Off Grid Living - Les and Jane even go so far as to call it Off Grid Debt Free Living , since debt is the main reason why people fail at living off grid.
Off Grid Living is a whole different way of living and a whole different way of solving problems. For the most part you have to do it yourself. There is no one to call if something goes wrong, it is self sufficient sustainable living at its best.
Jane and I show you how to beat debt and break free from the ‘wage slave’ cycle. Helen and Scott Nearing, two of our earlier role models coined the phrase, wage slave and it fits. We really felt like slaves tied to our jobs, our life, everything - but off grid living freed us from our debt and gave us lifestyle choices that has afforded a valuable commodity today, and that is time.
Time to do what we want, time to teach off grid living debt free and time for each other and our family. We are so thankful for the choices we made and you will be too.
Our first book, published in 2007 (Renewable Energy Solutions) has become very popular with people looking to do what we have done and learn how to live off the grid. In this 100 page book we show you everything from understanding and installing solar panels, even finding free solar panels, free wind generator towers and even free off grid batteries to picking the correct location for your wind generator.
Do you want to Build a Wind Generator? We just finished building our own homemade wind generator and we can show you how we did it. We will even reveal the very best plans for building home made wind generators available on the internet.
I am sure you would like to find out how Jane and I eliminated $43,000 in debt in a mere 3 years and 4 months. Let us show you about (Debt Free Living). We knew absolutely nothing about debt and what we did know was completely wrong. The helpful guide we found set us on the road to debt free off grid living.
It doesn’t matter whether you live in the United States (from Alaska to California, from New York to Florida), Canada, Great Britain (the U.K, UK) - England, Scotland, or Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, or anywhere in Asia (China, Japan or elsewhere), Africa, or South America you have the resources to achieve this goal of off grid living for yourself and your family.
Add in the knowledge you will gain from the off grid living website and the Renewable Energy Solutions book and our other how to guides and you will soon be on your way to debt free off grid living.
Homemade Wind Generators
We wanted a wind generator to power our off grid home, but the 1000 watt wind turbine we needed would have cost us over $2500. We decided to build one ourselves instead. Our son Andre’ and the rest of the family did the research and it took quite some time.
Over the past 10 years we have perfected this design to the point that we know
that ANYONE COULD BUILD A WIND GENERATOR!
Build Your Own House
Use these easy to follow plans and you and your family will save at least $20,000 on the price of a new house. Our family did it, so can yours. Find out the secrets of 25 years in the house building trade. All is revealed.
Renewable Energy Solutions
Find Free Solar Panels, Wind Towers and Batteries…
Learn from our 15 years of experience living off the grid.
You can be Living Off The Grid in Less than 1 year!. We want to help you learn about Renewable Energy and living a better life off grid and debt free.
Learn More About Living Off The Grid HERE